


Tender Care

by imtoolazytothinkofausername



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 11:47:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20045497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imtoolazytothinkofausername/pseuds/imtoolazytothinkofausername
Summary: Percival falls ill while he's Grindelwald's prisoner.





	Tender Care

**Author's Note:**

> Note: I do not own FB or any of its characters. The Harry Potter universe belongs to the illustrious J.K. Rowling, and I do not write this for profit. Written for this prompt on tumblr: “I don’t know why but my brain feels like being mean to Graves tonight☹  
So, prompt: Grindelwald didn’t treat Graves too badly (at least compared to his other enemies). The man was from an ancient pureblood line, and if Grindelwald  
hurt him it could cause other purebloods to turn against Grindelwald. Besides Graves is a powerful and intelligent wizard, who worked extremely hard to develop a good reputation that didn’t come from his family name. Grindelwald can respect him, even if Graves won’t join him.  
So Grindelwald keeps him out of the way at Nurmengard, where he’s a prisoner with a rather luxurious suite of rooms. Every night, Grindelwald eats dinner with him and then they talk about literature and politics. Grindelwald finds it refreshing to be able to hold discussions with someone on his own mental level.  
Graves isn’t happy. He doesn’t want to be tortured, but being cooped up, given every imaginable comfort except freedom, makes him feel like a pet. He looks forward to the dinners and talks because he’s usually alone, any guards only talking to him when necessary. He’ll never join Grindelwald, but Percival’s talks with the man are the most interesting part of his day and it’s hard to hold onto the rage that he knows should consume him. Still, Graves holds no illusions about his captor’s character. He’s seen the bodies of Grindelwald’s victims and knows that when Grindelwald tires of him or has no further use of him, the dark wizard will kill Graves, too.  
So, one day they’ve finished dinner and are chatting when Graves starts to feel ill. At first he brushes it off as the room being too hot. Then, it starts to get overwhelming and his vision is blurring. In reality, Graves has caught a serious illness, but his last thought before passing out is that Gellert must have poisoned him, and Percival feels like an idiot for feeling a sense of betrayal.”  
I’m not sure if I’m going to continue. I just thought of this when I saw it. I should warn people that this is not going to evolve into slash. I mean, maybe Grindy thinks of Percy that way. I haven’t made up my mind. But there will always be the element that Grindelwald is ruining Graves’ life, so I’m not going to go into that.

“Percival? Percival!” Gellert dashed forward, pulling the auror into his arms. Leaning Graves back against one arm, he used the other to tilt Percival’s head up. The man’s eyes were closed and his breathing was labored. “Come on, wake up!” Grindelwald tapped the director’s cheek, then hit it a bit more forcefully. The man was burning up! 

This didn’t make sense! Of course Graves hadn’t been too conversational tonight. He’d barely touched his meal. Hadn't risen to the bait when Grindelwald had compared muggles to house elves. But Gellert had thought that the man was merely in one of his moods. There’d been nothing to suggest anything was wrong with the auror until Graves had risen to get another glass of wine and collapsed. 

Graves’s eyes fluttered open just a bit. “I…”

Gellert summoned a glass of water and forced it to Percival’s lips. “Drink.” 

But Graves turned his head to the side. He looked at Gellert through hooded eyes that held a mixture of anger, pain, and confusion. “I didn’t do anything wrong…why?” 

“Shh…you should-” 

But Graves slumped in Gellert’s arms. It was enough to send Grindelwald into a panic, but he was able to ascertain that the auror was still alive. Knowing that every moment was of the essence, Grindelwald started to run a diagnostic test. 

…. 

“I want everything taken switched out and the room cleansed.” Gellert ordered later, when he’d moved Graves to a makeshift infirmary. “There can’t be any contamination. And clean every room he’s been in. Let’s hope he’s the only case.” 

The results of the test...they hadn't made sense. Gellert had been extraordinarily careful with Graves. The man was simply too valuable to harm. Had Grindelwald injured such a well-respected wizard, the image he was trying to create of himself, that of a revolutionary who just wanted to help the wizarding world reach its full potential, would be forever shattered. So, he’d made sure that his prisoner had lacked for nothing but freedom. He’d given Graves a warm bed, clean water, the best food, and clean clothes. The director had been treated like a prince, albeit one under house arrest. It simply wasn’t fair that now, after all the pampering, Graves had somehow contracted Old Hag’s fever. 

Gellert supposed Graves had contracted it on one of their walks. That, he supposed, was unavoidable. It wasn’t as if he could keep Percival inside all the time; no exercise would have been detrimental to the director’s health, and it was so rare that Gellert had anyone new to show the gardens of Nurmengard to. That in itself posed a problem. It wasn’t like Gellert could defeat nature, and the last thing he needed was to contract the illness himself.

But he could worry about that possibility later. For now, he had a patient to tend to.

“Yes, sir...” Krall hesitated. “Sir?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Director Graves is a prisoner. Our enemy. Do we really need him anymore? Wouldn’t it be easier to-” Krall trailed off as Gellert gave him a hard look. “I just...” 

“It’s my business who I kill and who I heal. I have my reasons, Krall.” Grindelwald cocked his head to the side, face contorting in a frown as if something troubling had just occurred to him. “I don’t...I trust that you agree with me on that.” 

“Of course, sir!” 

“Because...if you’re questioning me...if you no longer believe that I can be trusted to make decisions...” 

“No! I mean, it was just a thought! I didn’t think! I’ll just...” 

Grindelwald watched silently as his follower left the room. Then, he turned his attention back to Graves and sighed. This _would_ be quite a lot of trouble and require much time and skill. It wasn’t like Grindelwald had a surplus of time, juggling Graves’ job and his hunt for the obscurus. But letting the director die...that didn’t sit right with him. No, Gellert would do what he could for the man and hope for the best. 


End file.
